Taste Test: Ramen Noodles

By Reader's Digest Editors

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Instant ramen noodles can be a cheap and tasty meal — if you buy the right brand. So forget those ten-cent packs, and spring for one of these, taste-tested by food writer Ruth Reichl for Lucky Peach magazine.

Myojo Chukazanmai Japanese Style Noodles
Reichl deemed this brand the best for the “sprightly, bouncy texture” of the noodles and their “pleasant, very restrained flavor.” $2.05, amazon.com

GreeNoodle
These noodles are made with Moroheiya, a nutritious leafy green that gives them their color. “The noodles are not fried and contain no artificial colors, no preservatives, no cholesterol, and no MSG. And, in spite of all the health claims, they actually taste good,” Reichl notes. $24 (pack of 12), amazon.com.

Nong Shim
They come from the fun-to-say city of Rancho Cucamonga, California, and Reichl has only this comment: “Decent.” $20.70 (pack of 20), amazon.com.

Kamfen Instant Ramen
It has a “funkily fishy aroma,” writes Reichl, but “when I poured boiling water into the little foam cup, I found myself transported to the back alley of a large Chinese city.” Available online and at Asian markets.